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My Collegiate Sports Allegiance

College football is going to begin in a little over a week and I find myself stuck in the same position every year. I love watching college football. I wake up fairly early with the dog and make a pot of coffee. Flip on ESPN and find the first games are just starting on the east coast. I am overcome with happiness knowing the day will be filled with more games through the day. At that moment, I don’t want to leave the house the rest of the day. (Sorry dad)

You could argue college football is better than watching the NFL because you have more games to choose from. I can watch Virginia Tech vs South Carolina from beginning to end and be completely satisfied. The wife is also a football lover, but she can’t handle two obscure college teams like I can. I’m a football nerd boarding on junkie.

Now, I was born in Eastern WA, grew up and currently live in Seattle and alum from Central Washington University. Who the hell am I supposed to root for while watching all these games I’m addicted to? I have a love hate relationship with both Washington schools. Let’s break this down.

University of Washington Huskies – I enjoy watching the Huskies play and hope they do well. This city seems to need the Husky football program to succeed for some sort of civic pride. That being said, I have to confess… UW fans are the most self entitled pricks I’ve ever been around. They are everything Seattleites loathe about Yankee or Red Sox fans. They think a National Title is a birth right and they are owed a BCS bid because they wear purple. I want the Huskies to do well, but I want the fans to enjoy their wins with grace. After the Tyrone Willingham era, I thought they would have been humbled. Nope, they’re inflated egos are back like the herp. They easily forgot they went winless a few years ago. My big issue is the blue hairs who call sports radio. Stop comparing everyone to Don James. He was a great coach in a different era. It was a different game all together. Let him go. I get it, he walked on water.

Washington State Cougars – I honestly feel like a Coug at heart. It’s where I would have attended university if I hadn’t gone to CWU. During the Apple Cup I always root for WSU. Maybe it’s just to piss off all the Huskies around me. Maybe it’s the east side roots. I feel like it’s where I belong but there’s a good chance “Coug Nation” doesn’t want me. You may already know, Cougs tend to have a little bit of a kid brother complex. You’re either in or out, no middle ground, with us or against us, etc. They tend to have a small chip on their shoulder. If you listen to KJR, a good example of this is Jason Puckett. He blasted me on Twitter for what I thought was a harmless attempt at a joke. (Yes, It was a Ryan Leaf joke) I regret nothing. He was obviously pissed. I have kind of sympathized with him since then because he probably hears anti Coug crap all the time. Maybe he speaks for the rest of them and I’m not welcome. I don’t know exactly.

Another School? – I have no real interest in this option. I kind of just pick which school I want to see win based on each game. I have friends who support Notre Dame but can’t tell me why other than, “I just do”. Others support Michigan because they are from there. They can’t relate to the school any more than I do with UW or WSU right? I don’t know if I can just blindly pick a school like a Boise State and go all “smurf turf” crazy.